The Tuxedo

In the 1860s, the increasing popularity of outdoor activities among the British middle and upper classes led to a corresponding increase in the popularity of the casual lounge suit as a country alternative to the more formal day wear that was traditionally worn in town. Men also sought a similar alternative to the formal evening tailcoat worn every evening. The earliest tuxedo jackets were of the same black material as the dress coat with one, two or no buttons and a shawl collar faced in satin or ribbed silk. By the turn of the twentieth century the peaked lapel was equally popular and the one-button model had become standard. When trousers were sold with the jacket they were of the same material. Edwardian dandies often opted for Oxford grey or a very dark blue for their evening wear. By World War I, the grey option had fallen out of favour but the "midnight blue" alternative became increasingly popular and rivalled black by the mid 1930s. Notch lapels, imported from the ordinary business suit, were a brief vogue in the 1920s. A single stripe of braid covering the outseam on each leg was an occasional variation at first, but became standard by the 1930s.